What Political Economy Is, and Why It Matters

The Market Is Pricing a Prophet

SpaceX may come to market under the ticker SPCX at a valuation close to $1.8 trillion. The company has real businesses: Starlink, launch contracts, government work, and a growing role in AI infrastructure. But the valuation also depends on something stranger: faith in Elon Musk as the figure through whom the future will supposedly pass. This episode asks what happens when markets lose faith in institutions and begin to price salvation through founders. For more essays and commentary, visit www.wernermouton.com. [https://www.wernermouton.com] ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ [https://www.patreon.com/wernermouton]

Capitalism Is Not the Economy

Marx was not simply writing about economics. He was trying to understand capitalism as a historical system. In this episode, I look at why Marx refused to treat “the economy” as something natural, neutral, or timeless. Wages, profit, markets, growth, and competition are not just technical facts. They are social relations shaped by property, labor, class, law, and power. The episode asks what changes when we stop seeing capitalism as fate and begin seeing it as a human order: made through history, protected by institutions, and explained through the language of economics. Website: https://www.wernermouton.com For more, join the community: https://www.patreon.com/wernermouton ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ [https://www.patreon.com/wernermouton]

What Political Economy Is, and Why It Matters

Political economy is where money, power, markets, and public life meet. In this opening episode, I explain why the economy is not a machine floating above society, but a human order built through laws, institutions, choices, and power. The episode introduces the central question of the podcast: who makes the rules, who benefits from them, who pays for them, and what kind of life those rules create. Website: https://www.wernermouton.com/ [https://www.wernermouton.com/] For more, join the community: https://www.patreon.com/wernermouton [https://www.patreon.com/cw/wernermouton] ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ [https://www.patreon.com/wernermouton]